Innholdsfortegnelse for 10-20 MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYER/ROOKIE OF THE YEAR i Baseball America

DECEMBER 1986 Gregg Jefferies, an 18-year-old switch-hitting shortstop, wins his first of two Minor League Player of the Year awards, thanks in part to his father’s training methods. Gregg Jefferies remains one of our favorite sons at Baseball America, and for good reason. Jefferies holds the unofficial title of most appearances— five times before he reached the big leagues—on the cover of BA. He was our first two-time Minor League Player of the Year, in 1986 and 1987. While he did not live up to rather unrealistic expectations, Jefferies did have a respectable 14-year major league career. Today, the 50-year-old Jefferies gives hitting lessons for players as young as 9 years old at Office Sports Academy in Anaheim. He is the father of two young children from his current marriage,…

john.manuel@baseballamerica.com When rookies have the kinds of season that Aaron Judge had with the Yankees, or that Cody Bellinger had with the Dodgers, they tend to earn a lot of attention. Setting rookie home run records—Judge set the major league record with 52, while Bellinger set a new National League mark with 39—while playing in the nation’s two largest media markets, for two of the game’s most storied franchises, can obscure the work of other rookies. Not that other rookies didn’t try. I’m fascinated by Paul DeJong, who hit 25 homers while becoming the Cardinals’ everyday shortstop. For those of us who followed DeJong as an amateur, the home runs are no surprise— but shortstop? No one saw that coming, not when he played catcher, third base, second base and…

APPALACHIAN LEAGUE 1. KEVIN MAITAN, SS DANVILLE (BRAVES) AGE: 17. B-T: B-R. HT.: 6-2. WT.: 210. SIGNED: Venezuela, 2016. Maitan headlined the 2016 international signing class and was considered by some to be the best international amateur since Miguel Sano in 2009. The Venezuelan shortstop signed for $4.25 million with the Braves. Maitan scuffled in the early part of the season but as he got his feet under him, evaluators began to take notice of his switch-hitting ability and plus raw power. He flashes impressive hitting hands and keeps his swing under control when he’s in the zone. At peak, he could be a plus hitter with at least plus power. Maitan has added 20 pounds to his listed weight and may outgrow shortstop. Despite notable athleticism and a plus…

jerry.crasnick@baseballamerica.com In roughly the time it takes to drive from Anaheim to San Jose, Mike Scioscia displayed his strengths as an American League Manager of the Year candidate while simultaneously setting back baseball aesthetics 20 years. Scioscia used a major league-record 12 pitchers in the Angels’ 11-9, 11-inning Labor Day victory versus the Athletics. He called upon Parker Bridwell and Blake Parker, the law firm of Chavez (Jesse), Alvarez (Jose) and Ramirez (Noe), the son of a Cy Young Award winner (Cam Bedrosian) and the first Sacred Heart University Pioneer to play big league ball (Troy Scribner). During a four-hour, 48-minute odyssey, Scioscia did everything but coax Chuck Finley out of retirement to help the Angels win a game. It was a strategic coup de grace and an artistic monstrosity.…

@BaseballAmerica @BaseballAmerica BaseballAmericaMag ReadBA ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE PODCAST Baseball America editors will regularly discuss up-and-coming prospects in the AFL podcast: BaseballAmerica.com/today/media/podcasts TOOLS TALK Brewers rookie center fielder Brett Phillips unleashed the strongest throw from the outfield this season, as measured by MLB Statcast, when on Sept. 14 he gunned down the Pirates’ David Freese at home plate with a 104 mph missile. Afterward, he took to Twitter to jokingly ask BA editor J.J. Cooper if his throw warranted an 80 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale. BLUECLAWS SHOUT OUT BA The low Class A Lakewood BlueClaws took to Twitter to say they appreciate the full-page photo treatment that lefthander Nick Fanti received in the Sept. 22 issue of Baseball America. The 20-year-old threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts for Lakewood…

ARIZONA LEAGUE 1. MacKENZIE GORE, LHP PADRES AGE: 18. B-T: L-L. HT: 6-3. WT: 180. DRAFTED: HS—Whiteville, N.C., 2017 (1). Gore started his career with a significant hype after winning BA High School Player of the Year and being drafted third overall. He lived up to the accolades in his pro debut. Gore dominated AZL hitters, holding them to a .184 average and striking out 34 in just over 21 innings. He showed a solid four-pitch mix and extreme athleticism which allows him to repeat his delivery with a high leg kick. Gore has plus command of all of his pitches, notably a sneaky fastball that sits 92-96 mph with good plane. Both his cut-like slider and curveball project as plus pitches, and he has good feel for a changeup…

tracy.ringolsby@baseballamerica.com Ever since the Expos moved from Montreal to Washington in 2005, there has been an ongoing movement in the Canadian city to regain a major league franchise. There has even been talk of support for building a ballpark downtown, which was one of the missing ingredients that led to the Expos’ departure. In September, the folks in Portland, Ore., were given hope that they, too, could be home to an expansion team when commissioner Rob Manfred, speaking in Seattle, for the second year in a row mentioned Portland as a potential site for a franchise, and was quoted as saying “a team in the West” would be a part of any expansion. And there is a legitimate ownership group in Portland that has the necessary financing along with support…

URBAN ARNZEN, who played two games in the Western International League in 1953, died Sept. 12. He was 85. FRANK BELLOTTO, who umpired in the minor leagues in the 1950s, died Sept. 15. He was 94. ELBY BUSHONG, who was a minor league catcher and first baseman in the Midwest, Pioneer, Northern and California leagues for the Cubs and Dodgers organizations from 1966-68, died Sept. 11 in Phoenix. He was 73. CARL DECK, who was a minor league righthander in the Cardinals organization in 1954 and ’55, died Sept. 17 in Springfield, Mo. He was 81. JAMES “JIM” DONOHUE, a righthander who pitched in the major leagues for the Tigers, Angels and Twins in 1961 and ’62, died Sept. 9 in St. Louis. He was 79. Donohue made 70 career…

HAVE A QUESTION? @jjcoop36 askba@baseballamerica.com Q With the prominence of this year’s rookie class, how would you rank the best Rookie of the Year duos of all time? —GRAYSON COLES, DENVER A Since we don’t know where Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger will go from here, I’m going to rank rookie duos based only on their debut seasons. From that standpoint, Judge and Bellinger—this year’s presumed Rookie of the Year duo—were as productive as any ROY pairing in history. Judge turned in one of the best rookie hitting seasons ever and is the Three True Outcomes rookie for all time. He broke rookie records for home runs (49 by Mark McGwire in 1987), walks (107 by Ted Williams in 1939) and strikeouts (199 by Kris…

2014 • CLASS A “The things that make him look different (in 2014) as compared to now are, when he first came in, we were trying to get him more centered in his swing. The things that look different in his swing (in the photo) are obviously that his hands are a lot higher, and he’s standing up taller than he is now. “I think for a lot of large guys . . . they’re typically long, slow, pull guys who have some holes. They can cover the ball down and can cover a mistake offspeed pitch—and that’s about it. But . . . for as big as he is, his swing is extremely short. He covers high velocity, he can handle the ball inside. It’s always been a positive…

NEW YORK-PENN LEAGUE 1. BRENDAN McKAY, 1B/LHP HUDSON VALLEY (RAYS) AGE: 21. B-T: L-L. HT.: 6-2. WT.: 212. DRAFTED: Louisville, 2017 (1). The Rays were willing to let the most decorated amateur in Baseball America history pitch and hit. Pitching once a week, McKay’s fastball was as firm as it was at his best at Louisville. He pitched at 92-95 mph and pounded the zone and mixed in an effective cutter, slider and changeup. He has a chance to have four average or better pitches, and he has advanced feel for pitching. At the plate, McKay was helpless against lefthanders (.107/.265/.107) but generally put together professional at-bats by showing a simple, effortless swing that generated plus power. His home runs were often no-doubters, including one off of a fastball thrown…

With most of the top international players for 2017 already signed, teams have been busy scouting the 2018 class. Four of Baseball America’s top 50 international prospects from the 2017 class, however, remain unsigned. Outfielder Raimfer Salinas (the No. 10 prospect) and catcher Antonio Cabello (No. 15)—two Venezuelan prospects who train with Francisco Ortiz—are still available. Several sources believe that the Yankees, who have traded up for additional bonus pool space, could be the eventual landing spot for both players. The Yankees are also the favorites to sign Venezuelan shortstop/center fielder Osleivis Basabe, the No. 46 prospect, though there is talk he might wait until 2018 to sign. Dominican outfielder Mauro Bonifacio (No. 34) also was still available since becoming eligible to sign on his 16th birthday on Aug. 31.…

peter.gammons@baseballamerica.com Baseball’s ride to October has been a wild one, from Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge chasing home run records to the remarkable rebirths of the playoff-bound Diamondbacks, Rockies and Twins to Jose Altuve chasing an MVP trophy. All that has somehow distracted us from the horrific tragedies of one hurricane after another and the cacophony of the divides in our country. I think I revisited Mookie Betts’ Sept. 24 highlights, which included two outfield assists, a game-tying double and a an Enos Slaughter-like, game-winning dash, a half-dozen times. But the image of this final month that has remained with so many of my friends, some who understand exit velocity, some who just enjoy the game for its timeless stream of consciousness, came Sept. 20 in Yankee Stadium. The scene…